England Faces Brazil While Scotland Prepares for World Cup Showdown
The World Cup has hit that awkward middle stretch. Legs are heavy, tempers shorter, margins thinner. For England, it brought a flat, goalless night against Ghana in Boston that left more questions than answers and qualification still, somehow, unsealed.
Jude Bellingham walked through the mixed zone with the man-of-the-match award in his hand and a diagnosis on his lips. “Second game fever.” He’s not wrong. This was England’s fourth straight draw in the second match of a major tournament, stretching back to Euro 2020. The pattern is becoming a habit.
His message, though, was clear: roll with it. Learn from it. Move on.
England stuck in gear
The 0-0 with Ghana did not derail England’s campaign, but it did strip away the early swagger from the opening win over Croatia. They controlled territory, they controlled Ghana’s counter, they created just enough to win it. And yet, when the decisive chance came, Harry Kane lashed it over from seven yards.
Kane, 32 now and carrying the captaincy as naturally as ever, refused to indulge in self-pity.
“It’s part of a striker’s life,” he said, reflecting on the late miss. “Nine times out of 10 I score but in football there is a feeling that it just doesn’t go your way.”
He won’t dwell. He rarely does. Nor is he buying the narrative that England lean too heavily on him.
“I don’t think there is an over-reliance,” he insisted. “Any No 9 at a big team, people expect them to score goals and it’s no different for me.”
Eberechi Eze echoed the same theme. The midfielder, bright again in Boston, stressed that Group L’s dynamics remain largely unchanged: England still expect to top it, still expect to beat Panama on Saturday, still trust the plan.
“We set out to win anyway, so it changes nothing for us,” Eze said. “You can’t be too high, you can’t be too low… we’re trying to enjoy it as much as we can, and being confident of what’s to come.”
The mood around the camp remains measured rather than anxious. But the stakes sharpen from here.
Fitness scares and a looming ban
The real concern emerging from Boston was not the scoreline but the strapping on Declan Rice’s leg and the World Cup regulations hanging over him.
Rice limped off late on and left the stadium with his leg heavily bandaged. Initial indications suggest no long-term damage, but he and Reece James will both be assessed before the Panama game. With qualification almost secured and bigger nights ahead, both may be spared.
Rice’s yellow card against Ghana complicates things further. Under FIFA rules, two bookings in the group stage trigger a one-match suspension in the knockouts. Another caution against Panama and England’s midfield anchor would miss the last-32 tie. One more reason for Thomas Tuchel to think carefully about his lineup.
Tuchel at least has Kane fully in his corner. The Bayern Munich striker pushed back at the idea that the manager’s system leaves England too dependent on his goals, insisting the scrutiny is simply part of the job.
Rising controversy over Bellingham
While England ponder tactical tweaks and fitness calls, an unexpected row has erupted off the pitch. Reports from Spain say Paraguay have filed an official complaint to FIFA over Bellingham avoiding punishment for covering his mouth while speaking to Ghana’s Jordan Ayew.
Under a new law for this World Cup, players can be shown a red card for hiding their mouths during confrontations. Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron became the first to be dismissed under the rule in a fiery game against Turkiye, after a VAR review.
Bellingham’s exchange, FIFA sources insist, was a friendly chat without hostility. No card, no sanction. Paraguay’s federation, though, argue the rule is being applied inconsistently and have taken their grievance to Zurich. The case taps straight into wider concerns about clarity, consistency and the game’s image after the homophobic abuse incident involving Gianluca Prestianni and Vinicius Jr prompted the rule’s introduction.
World Cup witchcraft and calm heads
As if England needed another subplot, Ghanaian “witch doctor” Nana Kwaku Bonsam has claimed credit for Kane’s blank against the Black Stars, boasting he “worked on” the striker before the game. Now, he says, he has “released” him before Panama.
England will treat that with the same seriousness Kane gives missed chances: acknowledge, then ignore. The real work is on the training pitch, where Tuchel must sharpen an attack that has stalled after the Croatia blitz.
Off the field, at least, there is calm. UK Football Policing chiefs praised England supporters for their behaviour in Boston, noting no arrests among the roughly 30,000 travelling fans and describing the atmosphere as “exemplary”. Local authorities said much the same about the Scotland fans who have turned this American World Cup into a travelling carnival.
Scotland’s date with Brazil
While England look to quietly reset, Scotland walk into the storm. Miami, late night, Brazil under the lights. For Steve Clarke’s players, this is the edge of the cliff.
They arrive with three points from two games, a laboured 1-0 win over Haiti followed by a bruising 1-0 defeat to Morocco, settled by Ismael Saibari’s strike inside 70 seconds. The performance in that second outing rattled confidence. The mathematics, though, still offer hope.
Beat Brazil and Scotland are through, potentially as group winners if Morocco slip against Haiti. A draw, and four points almost certainly deliver a last-32 place as one of the best third-placed sides. Even a narrow defeat might be enough, with three points and a -1 goal difference historically just about sufficient to sneak through.
But this is Brazil. Five-time world champions. Carlo Ancelotti on the bench. Neymar back.
The Brazil coach confirmed the forward has trained well all week after a calf problem and is “fit and able and ready to play”. Whether he starts or plays a half, his presence changes the temperature of the night.
One threat has gone the other way. Barcelona’s Raphinha, who scored in the 3-0 win over Haiti, misses out with a hamstring injury.
Ancelotti, though, sounded no note of complacency when he assessed Scotland.
“It will be a difficult game,” he said. “Scotland has quality, they are fighters, they are well organised. They have good players, McTominay, McGinn… Easy games at the World Cup were finished a long time ago.”
The Tartan Army have taken that message to heart. They have already taken over Miami Beach, swapping Boston ballparks for sun, surf, kilts and bagpipes. Police have praised the “unforgettable atmosphere” they have created across the city.
Kick-off comes at 11pm BST, at the same time as Morocco vs Haiti. That is no accident. After the “Disgrace of Gijón” in 1982, FIFA decreed that final group matches must kick off together to deter collusion. This tournament has already thrown up one extreme weather delay – France vs Iraq stretched nearly four hours after storms – and organisers admit lightning or heavy rain could yet disrupt simultaneous starts. For now, though, Group C will rise and fall in unison.
The tantalising subplot? If results fall a certain way, Scotland could meet England in Mexico City in the last 16. For now, that remains a distant, dangerous dream.
Ronaldo roars back, Portugal purr
Away from the British storyline, Cristiano Ronaldo has reinserted himself into the World Cup narrative with familiar force. Written off after a poor showing in Portugal’s opener against DR Congo, he responded with a brace in a 5-0 dismantling of Uzbekistan.
He declared himself “back”. Critics rolled their eyes. The Portugal dressing room did not.
Bruno Fernandes, who created Ronaldo’s second goal, admitted relief as much as joy.
“It was important for our captain to score,” he said. “He’s our go-to player in attack. We managed to score a lot of goals, and we’re happy about that. I’m here to set up my teammates up front. It’s part of my game, regardless of whether I score or not.”
Portugal now face Colombia in Miami to decide who tops Group K. Ronaldo, as ever, has set the tone: doubt him at your peril.
Elsewhere around the groups
The third round of matches is peeling away the pretenders.
Germany, already safely through, refuse to coast. Midfielder Nadiem Amiri has promised they will treat their clash with Ecuador “like a final”, determined to keep momentum and respect the integrity of the group. With storms lurking in the forecast and FIFA’s simultaneous-kick-off rule stretched by talk of “force majeure”, that stance carries weight beyond their own camp.
Switzerland meet hosts Canada in Group B’s finale, while Bosnia and Herzegovina face Qatar with both sides on one point and everything on the line. One win there could be a golden ticket to the last 32.
Group A also reaches its tipping point. South Africa and South Korea square off with hopes still alive, while Mexico – already through and playing with the freedom of a side unburdened – face Czechia.
In Dallas, Lionel Scaloni has his own juggling act. Argentina have already won Group J and will play their last-32 tie in Miami, but the coach has no plans to wrap Lionel Messi in cotton wool against Jordan. Messi, with five goals in two games and the Golden Boot in his sights, wants minutes. At least 45 of them. Cristian Romero will sit out until the knockouts with a muscle problem, while the likes of Giuliano Simeone, Valentín Barco and José Manuel López are expected to rotate in under a punishing 100F heat.
Off the pitch, the World Cup’s politics and logistics rumble on. Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has called for an inquiry into ticket prices, accusing FIFA of “pricing ordinary fans out of the game” with finals tickets many times more expensive than Euro 2024. In California, a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in Mendocino County shook the state ahead of USA vs Turkiye in Los Angeles, though no tsunami warning followed and preparations continued.
And in Sweden’s camp, Graham Potter has gone on the front foot. After a 5-1 mauling by the Netherlands, critics pointed to captain Isak Hien’s errors. Potter hit back, refusing to scapegoat his centre-back and declaring: “If I’m manager, then he’s playing… If everybody wants someone to blame, it should be me.” Sweden face Japan in Dallas with their pride and progress on the line.
What comes next?
For England, the path is deceptively simple: take care of Panama, protect key legs, and ensure Rice walks away without another yellow. For Scotland, there is no such luxury. Their World Cup history is littered with near-misses and hard-luck tales. Tonight in Miami, against Neymar and Brazil, they have a chance to tear that script to shreds.
Roll with it? Or rise above it? The next 90 minutes for both nations will tell us far more than any early optimism ever could.
